Pure

After talking with Father in the drawing room, I began to timidly reach out to the other members of my family. That night, I was very glad I had done so. Nina, I found, was an artist; she loved to paint and promised to show me her work whenever I came to visit her. Ingrid and I shared a love of books; every single one of the boys held spirited debates with me about who was going to win the World Cup. It finally dwindled down to two on two, no one ready to back down.

"No vay!" cried Theodor, shaking his head vehemently. "Bulgaria's got Krum!" Fritz nodded in agreement while Benjamin and I stood our ground.

"One good player versus seven!" I shot back, enjoying myself thoroughly. "Ireland also just bought a Firebolt for each player; how do you think Bulgaria can possibly beat zat?!"

"Von't matter iv Krum's already got zee Snitch," Fritz said excitedly and Theodor high fived him. Benjamin shook his head, smirking.

"He von't get zee Snitch! Not ven he has Quigley and Ryan beating bludgers at him efery two zeconds!" he pointed out and this time I high fived him. Fritz opened his mouth, about to reply, when a bout of laughter cut him off.

"Zere vill be plenty ov time to argue ofer the match tomorrow, children. Vee hafe to get up fery early to catch zee portkey; it iz time vor bed," Father said lightly, smiling. We all nodded and stood from the table in the sitting room. "Benjamin and Theodor vill share a room, Fritz vill share vith Niklas and Matthias. Eferyone else iz already asleep." We all shared a guilty grin at this, knowing he had let us stay up late just to be nice.

As everyone went their separate ways, I stayed back. Hugging Father tightly, I pulled back after a long moment to smile at him. I said, "You were right, you know."

His blue eyes twinkled merrily and he lightly tapped the end of my nose. "I alvays am, Prinzessin. Hafen't you learned by now?" I giggled lightly and shook my head. "Vell, now you hafe. Off to bed! It vill be time to go bevore vee know it!"

__

His prediction was all too correct. We had to be at the portkey in the Black Forest at five fifteen, so we were all pulled out of bed by four thirty. Everyone wore stupidly sleepy expressions, barely able to eat the breakfast the house elves had prepared. I overheard the women complaining about how they didn't even like Quidditch.

"I have never cared for the sport, to be h-h-honest," Ramya said, yawning halfway through her sentence. Elfriede and Mother nodded sleepily, but Alheid shook her head.

"I've got to be excited. Ireland is my home, no matter where I live, and I'm going to support them. I just can't believe two out of three of my children have gone to the wrong side," she said, mock glaring at Theodor and Fritz, who were too busy falling asleep over their oatmeal to notice. Father was telling Augustus, Kristof and Sven where our seats were; the rest of the family had to buy their own tickets, which were on the level below the theirs.

"Top box as a givt vrom zee Minister ov Magic Vudge. Apparently, zee Bulgarian Minister vill be zere too," he said amusedly. "He is alvays pretending he does not know how to speak English."

Augustus shook his head while Kristof and Sven laughed appreciatively. I happened to glance at the grandfather clock and jumped.

"Father, it's five o'clock!" I yelled and we all sprang to our feet, awake in an instant. Everyone pulled on their traveling cloaks, rushing out the front door.

"Verdammt*," Nina grumbled, fussing with the sleeve; I stopped to help her into it and she smiled at me gratefully. Ingrid trailed behind us, trying to escape the twins. Elfriede was right behind them and she kept her eyes narrowed at all times, making sure they didn't wander off. Erkling lived in the Black Forest and specifically preyed on children. Father had reassured everyone that their numbers had dwindled thanks to the Ministry, but I had never been very convinced.

It didn't take us long to reach the clearing where our portkey was, thankfully, though it was a bit of a hassle trying to find it. It turned out to be an old butterbeer box, but by the time we had grabbed it, it was already three minutes til five fifteen.

"Zey should tell us vat it is bevore hand," Father grumbled, shaking his head. I wasn't too bothered. The only emotion I felt was pure excitement. The day I'd been yearning for was finally here! I bounced on my heels, unable to contain myself, though keeping my finger firmly pressed on the grimy box. It was a bit crowded, with sixteen people all touching one object; I was squeezed tightly between Ramya and Alheid.

"Someone's excited," Ramya teased and I had just managed a smile at her when I felt the most uncomfortable feeling of a hook jerking behind my navel. I grimaced as my feet lifted off the ground and we all began spinning in a whirlwind of noise and color. My stomach gave a sickening lurch and I closed my eyes quickly to keep myself from being sick. When I thought I wouldn't be able to take another second of bumping into my family, and all the spinning, my feet touched the ground.

I moved quickly away from the group and kneeled down low, pressing my head between my knees, like Mother had taught me. The roaring hadn't gone from my ears and I realized just how fervently I detested portkeys.

"Fifteen past five from the Black Forest," I heard distantly but I ignored it, exhaling deeply and trying to keep my breakfast in my stomach.

"Saden, are you alright, dear?"

A hand pressed gently on my lower back and I took one more deep breath before standing up, giving Alheid a small smile.

"Portkeys make me queasy is all," I said quietly, trying to ignore the fact that everyone was staring at me with different mixtures of confusion and concern. We fell into step with Ramya, who was bringing up the rear of the group.

"Well, we'll be at the tents in a bit, so you can take a lie-in if you need to," she said warmly, wrapping her arm around my shoulders and leading us back to the group.

"She's fine, just a bit woozy," Alheid assured and Ramya nodded sympathetically; I could only imagine how difficult it was for her, being four months pregnant. I had missed the entire exchange between Father and the ministry man who handled the arrivals. I was a little dissapointed but shook the thought from my head, looking around with extreme curiousity, but there wasn't anything to see yet. I remembered that we were supposed to blend in and I quickly took off my traveling cloak, stuffing it in my bag holding my money and wand.

"Where is our campsite?" I wondered confusedly.

"The man said ours was half of a mile away, that someone had set it up for us. I'm sure your father paid for that," Ramya answered, looking exhausted already. I frowned, watching her.

"Shouldn't someone carry you or something?" I asked but she merely laughed.

"I will be fine, Saden. This is good excercise. Good for the baby, too. I have been getting out of shape," she said lightly and I scoffed quietly. The only way you could tell she was pregnant was because of her belly; she was tiny everywhere else. Alheid seemed to be thinking the same as me, for she laughed.

"If you are out of shape, then I'm an elephant!" she exclaimed and we began to laugh, earning some looks from the front of the group. Ramya shook her head, amused.

"I have seen elephants and you look nothing like one, I promise," she teased. Alheid shrugged, her blue eyes full of mirth. Silence fell over us as the walk deemed longer than we had thought it would be. I was sticky with sweat even though the air was brisk and cold. Swiping my forehead with the back of my hand, I noticed a small cottage beside a gate. As we got closer, my eyes began to widen: hundreds and hundreds of tents began to pop up out of the mist.

When Father had told me how many wizards would show up, I had laughed, assuming he was exaggerating. Now I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was being completely serious and my heart sped up in anticpation. We passed by the cottage and continued by, passing tents of all different kinds.

I had never seen muggle artifacts before and I stared in amazement at the simplicity of them. Just a simple little cloth over what seemed to be three poles. How odd. Here and there I saw that the owners had been unable to resist the temptation of decorating, adding chimneys and front yards to their designated area. Some went over the top, though I knew Father probably had done the same thing. A striped silk palace had regular and albino peacocks strutting elegantly outside the entrance; I stared after it, feeling like I had seen it before...

"Aha! Here vee are!" Father called after a bit more of walking, stopping. As Ramya, Alheid and I approached, I snickered at how correct my assumption about our tent, if you could even call it that, had been. Ours was three floors, with turrets and a large sign in front, lettered: "The von Deitrichs". Everyone filtered inside, but I hung back and smirked at him. He pursed his lips, defensively asking, "Vat?"

"You knew we were supposed to blend in," I chided half heartedly, too tickled with him to care much. He shrugged, grinning like a school boy.

"Vhy should vee blend in? No one else has," he pointed out, and slipped inside. I shook my head and followed him.